Thanekars gear up for Cleanliness contest!

Thanekars gear up for Cleanliness contest!

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) chose a unique way of celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti this year. Thane is one city which is taking the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan very seriously. After running a successful movement to make the city defecation-free, the civic body has now introduced a cleanliness competition for housing societies and slums where the winners will enjoy a five per cent rebate in yearly property tax amount.

“The entry for this contest begins on April 14 and the last date to fill forms is April 30,” said Sandip Malvi, public relations officer, TMC. “The contest will start from May 1 and end on July 31. The contestants will be reviewed from August 1 to August 14,” he added.

The TMC has set certain parameters on which the contenders will be evaluated. The parameters on which contestants will be scored are – clean surroundings (20 points), solid waste management (15 points), tree plantation (10), use of solar power (10), rainwater harvesting (10 points), functional fire equipment (10), voter registration (10) and no defaults in property tax payments (5 points).

“The winner in housing complexes category will get 5% rebate in annual property tax, while for the winning slums, the municipal corporation will undertake development work to the tune of Rs. 10 lakh to Rs15 lakh,” added Malvi.

The residents of Thane have welcomed this move. Some societies in the city who have a rain water harvesting system already enjoy a rebate in property tax and the new contest has excited Thanekars. This cleanliness drive however, should not be limited to the competition only; rather good practices should be maintained throughout.